A coalition of real estate and business leader have formed the housing advocacy group Home Arizona to encourage officials to address housing affordability and development constraints.
The Arizona Republic reports there are at least 30 apartment projects canceled or put on hold last year due to neighborhood resistance, political fear and zoning issues. (Editor’s Note: A cursory review of DATABEX multifamily projects with most recent updates of between January 1st, 2021 and February 3rd, 2022 shows 63 projects as Canceled or On Hold.)
Arizona is in the midst of a record housing shortage in terms of demand versus supply, with a market need of up to 270,000 units across price points needed to meet anticipated demand, according to the Arizona Department of Housing.
Home Arizona advocates for increasing housing supplies, particularly with an eye toward maintaining affordability as an incentive for companies to relocate here.
While still less expensive than many other traditionally high-cost markets, rapidly rising rents and home prices due to constrained supply have ended Arizona’s longstanding reputation for affordability. Prices continue to rise at record or near-record rates.
Development proposals have encountered increasingly frequent and vocal opposition from neighborhood residents and opposition groups who regularly express displeasure with potential traffic impacts, density increases, view obstructions and impacts to the character of existing neighborhoods. That opposition is commonly heard when a project must procure a change in zoning in order to proceed.
Maricopa Association of Governments data show approximately 878,000 acres of land in Arizona zoned for single-family homes, but on 17,000 zoned or entitled for apartments.
Developers and land use experts note it has become increasingly challenging to secure approvals for rezoning requests in many areas due to the NIMBY factor and officials’ fear of political backlash. (Source)